The smallest state in the U.S., Rhode Island has identified nine cluster industries for growth and opportunity in the Ocean State. Financial services, art and entertainment, headquarters, information, jewelry, manufacturing, ocean industries, support, and technology are the industry clusters currently sponsored by various state programs. State officials have specifically targeted financial service and insurance industries with key location benefits such as no income tax for insurance carriers and new captive insurance statutes designed to make Rhode Island an attractive location. Competing states such as New York and Massachusetts do not give additional surtax grants or income tax grants for insurance carriers.
      The Ocean State has been home to many technological advances. Samuel Slater, inventor of the water-powered cotton mill, was a native of Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Economic Policy Council named the Samuel Slater Technology Fund in his honor. The fund supports five centers for technology commercialization including the Slater Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Slater Center for Ocean Technology, the Slater Center for Biomedical Technology, the Slater Center for Design Innovation, and the Slater Center for Interactive Technologies. The centers offer collaborative research and funding as well as developing emerging industries with business resources.
      Biotech is an emerging industry in Rhode Island. "We identified biotechnology as one of our state's growth industries," said Gov. Lincoln Almond at the groundbreaking for BioNext, a $500 million new manufacturing project sponsored by Immunex in West Greenwich. "We've put incentives in place to ensure that Rhode Island is fertile ground for high-tech, cutting-edge businesses to locate. When a company like Immunex chooses to establish roots and branch out in Rhode Island, that's proof positive that we're achieving our goal."
      The new 500,000- sq.-ft. (46,450 sq.-m.) facility will be the site of one of the most advanced cell culture manufacturing centers in the world and will employ 350 biotech workers. The site will also employ the latest generation manufacturing process. "The BioNext Project is a key element of our strategic plan to satisfy growing demands in existing and emerging markets," says Peggy Phillips, Immunex executive vice president and chief operating officer.